Love the Earth You’re In

Earlier this morning, I earned more than two thousand steps walking from the office to our house. Rather than feeling fit and renewed, I felt that my new found regimen was actually hazardous to my health. Then, I realized, I was better off riding the jeepney on the way home.

Setting aside the peril of crazy motorists in a world deprived of pedestrian lanes and side walks, I found myself playing hide and seek with the scorching sun though it was barely pass six o’clock in the morning. That’s okay, I can manage. Instead of dealing with vitamin C offered by the mighty sun, I opted to utilize my hooded jacket and just attempted to ignore the bystanders curious of my out-of-place fashion pick. That’s right, I don’t need the C right now, I have supplements at home – I just had carcinogens for breakfast.

And if the sun’s rays are not enough, the streets offer another recipe for cancer – smoke. Yes, smoke belchers reign over the street putting the over population of China to shame. And to think that I live in one of the relatively greener cities in the country, I can’t imagine having to walk from Buendia to Gil Puyat without my trusty handkerchief (I tried this once and kids, don’t try this at home). I don’t know why we let them get away with this. It’s like robbery in broad daylight. The policemen charged motorists all the time with bending existing and non-existent rules ranging from not putting your seatbelts on to not following an invisible traffic sign. Then why can’t the law against smoke belchers be upheld? I know we have one somewhere between the gazillion bills and rules that our legislators passed.

All right, I can still tolerate the smoke. My hands are enough to cover my nose and mouth in one swift motion since I have long abandoned the use of handkerchiefs. Doing just that, I was able to get rid of the stinky smell from the surrounding and the silent poisoning care of carbon monoxide and other harmful gasses.

What now? Oh, did I forget to mention particulates? No, this is not merely the “pollen bodies” that triggered your asthma and kept you sneezing for hours. Forget about trying to block them with your hands because preventing them to enter your pipes will just leave you gasping for air. These minute matter enter your body without warning causing the mightiest of the lungs to bow down and disintegrate over time. Not bad for such tiny particles, huh? Another case of David beats Goliath only in this case, millions or probably billions of Davids entering your body and making you sick. But hey, who’s counting?

I know there are plenty of other environmental risks posing danger to our incredibly vulnerable body. However, I’m no longer aware of any other immediate threat that everyday brings. And so does billions of people around the world. Those who had grown so accustomed to the filthy air and infested waters no longer pay attention not knowing that those were causing our withering health. And that ignorance poses the biggest threat – the apathy that the majority expressed is detrimental to the entire population. But I have a dream, that one day, white radiation and black pollution will walk hand in hand and leave me free to roam not just the street I walk but the only earth I know.

Alexis Marian Africa
www.posham.blogspot.com
www.walk-a-ton.blogspot.com
Lipa City, Philippines

“If trees could speak, they would cry out that since they are not the cause of war, it is wrong for them to bear its penalties” - quoted